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Country Music History – May 24

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MAY 24

1914: Tootsie Bess was born. She gained fame as the owner of Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, a bar near the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville that became the stomping grounds for such artists and songwriters as Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, Harlan Howard and Mel Tillis.

1945: Priscilla Wagner was born in Brooklyn, NY. Adopted by her stepfather in 1950, she became Priscilla Beaulieu, before meeting future husband Elvis Presley while he is stationed in Germany.

1947: Mike Reid is born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. A first-round NFL draft pick in 1970, he nabs a country hit 20 years later with “Walk On Faith,” although he earned more success as a songwriter on “Inside,” “He Talks To Me,” “In This Life” and others.

1951: Lefty Frizzell recorded “Always Late (With Your Kisses),” “How Long Will It Take (To Stop Loving You)” and “Mom And Dad’s Waltz” at the Jim Beck Studio in Dallas.

1955: Rosanne Cash was born in Memphis. The daughter of Johnny Cash, she infuses pop and rock influences in her own progressive recording career beginning in the late-1970s. She won a Grammy for “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me.”

1970: Johnny Cash performed at a Billy Graham crusade for the first time in Knoxville, where he delivered an anti-drug message. Appearing with Cash are June Carter and The Statler Brothers.

1978: The U.S. Postal Service issued a Jimmie Rodgers commemorative stamp

1978: A day before it opens to the public, Webb Pierce unveiled his guitar-shaped swimming pool to the music industry.

1991: Arista releases Diamond Rio’s self-titled debut album.

2017: Darius Rucker performed at the NASCAR-affiliated Speedway Children’s Charities Gala and raised $890,000 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Charlotte.